Wednesday, November 03, 2004

A quick word about "Unity" and "Healing"As in: fuck it.

We've heard a lot of pretty platitudes today from Bush (and Kerry) about the"need for unity" and "healing" and "coming together." So I'm wondering... what exactly does that mean, and do any liberals actually think it's a good idea? Letting the extremist right-wing run roughshod over the demoralized remaining Democrats? Letting fundamentalist Christians and big business set the agenda for America without any opposition? Letting Bush appoint as many Scalia clones to the federal bench and the Supreme Court as he wants? Letting him cut taxes for the rich, restrict civil liberties, gut education, demonize gay people, wreak environmental havoc, chip away at a woman's right to choose and bomb whoever he wants? How does that benefit us?

If that's "unity", if that's "bipartisanship", then fuck unity and fuck bipartisanship. Let's put up a fight. Unity makes for nice sound bites but Bush isn't talking about true bipartisanship or compromise, he's talking about liberal capitulation to extremist right-wing rule. Just look at what a great job he did of uniting the country in the LAST four years.

P.S. I know I don't usually use this type of strong language in what is generally a "family-friendly" blog. But I feel it's warranted under the circumstances.

6 Comments:

When Republicans lost the White House race to Clinton in 96, I am pretty sure the words like Unity, Healing, and "Standing by the President" were not on their lips.

Nor once did they consider weakening the agenda they believed in.

If the democrats want to represent our values they better not abandon the fight just because states offered only a "mere" 252 electoral votes in a presidential race. If fighting for the 48% of americans whose values were made clear last night is beneath them then we don't want them.

It feels like a leftwinger is someone who believes in left wing values, and a democrat is just someone who thinks those value may be popular.

In this country, in a hundred years from now, everything Bush stands for; homophobia, warmongering, scapegoating, power for the wealthy, empire building, unaccountablility, and the subversion of civil rights will make people ill when they compare it to their own contemporary society.

Progress is inevitable, it is just a painful fact that so many people will suffer that much longer before move ahead. All we can do is our best to fight to make that day sooner and make it less painful for those less fortunate along the way.

Why is anyone surprised that Bush is talking "Unity"? He MUST have Democratic support to further his plans, there is no getting around that.

I take a great deal of solice in knowing that if California could recall Grey Davis, it is equally possible to recall Bush. The issues to base the recall on are theree....all that is requried is a charismatic replacement like Ahhhhnold.

The Republican Party is only good at electioneering. The Republicans have won all but two presidential elections since 1980. Yet, few of their goals have been accomplished. Spending continues at harrwoing levels, porn is now an industry, gay people are getting married in Massachusetts, and so on.

What the Democratic party needs to do is remind people of these non-accomplismhents. Sure Democrats have been called "Tax and Spend" but surely that's no worse than Republicans who are prone to "Spend and Spend." Massachusetts has lower taxes than California, as many regular churgoers as Utah, one of the lowest divorce rates, and no porn insdutry to speak of. All while being disgustingly and overwhelmingly Liberal.

Rather than try to behave like Republicans, Democrats need to behave like Democrats. They need to extol the virtues of private faith, affordable health care, education and safety ( and no not in terms of terrorism, rather in terms of gun-control, police budgets, etc.) as a means to living well. Republicans keep beating the war drum, as though elections are a pep rally before a football game. Their goal is to make America #1 through world domination or hegemony. I beleive the Democrats, somewhere quite deep down, want to make America #1 though improvements in the standard of living. Perhaps this would be how to sell themselves to Americans, as crusaders for a better standard of living, rather than for "A Better America."